Cycling in Pregnancy

I had my first baby, Ellen, in March 2003. I continued to cycle
until I was 37 weeks pregnant. The only reason I stopped was because
my hands hurt too much as a result of pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel
syndrome. My second (and last, I hope!) baby, Luke, was born in
August, 2006. My experiences while pregnant with him were quite
different. I didn't have any carpal tunnel syndrome, so I kept riding
up until the day I gave birth to him. My experiences, in much more
detail, are below.

Pregnancy 1

Me at 39 weeks pregnant. This photo is a bit
of a cheat, as I actually stopped cycling at 37 weeks.

In early July 2002 my period, which had been pretty reliable, was
late. My husband, Simon, was very excited, but I wanted to wait a
couple of weeks before doing a test. In mid-July we spent 10 days cycle touring in Scotland. We
did 440 miles over the trip, and there were some big hills. I didn't
work too hard at the hills, but then I usually don't work too hard
when cycling! I prefer to work at a moderate pace and enjoy
myself. When we got back from the trip I got one of those DIY
pregnancy kits and got the good news: I was pregnant.

A couple of weeks after we got back from Scotland, I did a big
ride, going from Cambridge (where we live)
to Kenilworth (where Simon's parents live), which is 98 miles away
by the route I take. I'd done this a couple of times before, but not
recently. I felt pretty strong after touring, so I felt I was up to
it. I arrived at the in-laws' place very tired and achy, but I was
fine the next day. Simon's mom was a bit worried about a pregnant
woman doing the ride; I guess she was worried that there was a chance
that it might trigger a miscarriage or something. I wasn't very
worried about this, as I got the impression from reading articles on
the Internet that miscarriages are due mainly to genetic abnormalities
in the foetus, and I knew that the effort would be very low-impact, my
usual moderate exertion.

I did my usual complement of day rides over the rest of the
summer, with a fair few between 40 and 50 miles. I didn't notice
myself being much slower than usual, but then I'm not usually terribly
fast to begin with.

It is interesting to note the reaction of my midwife
(midwives are the main carers for pregnant women over here) to my
riding through pregnancy. She was all for it, thinking that keeping
fit could only help when giving birth. It is interesting to note that
this is not the opinion of all midwives: I corresponded with another
cycling mom-to-be, Becka. Even from three or so months pregnant,
Becka's midwife was suggesting that it was unwise for her to contunue
cycling, even if she felt fine doing it. It's probably entirely due to
the places we live. Becka is in Bradford, where utility cycling (just
cycling to get to work, the shops, etc) is rare, where it's very
common in Cambridge.

I had heard that if you are cycling while pregnant, you should use
a heart rate monitor to make sure you don't get your heart beating too
fast (over 140 beats/minute). Well, considering that I'm not a
performance or speed cyclist, but a moderate paced tourist and utility
cyclist, I didn't feel this was necessary. I just went by how I
felt. Perhaps women who feel compelled to go all out on their rides
should use them to restrain themselves from working too hard.

In October I spent a weekend riding in the Cotswalds. By this time
I think I had slowed down a fair bit. I was almost the slowest one in
the group, but then the people I was riding with were dedicated cycle
tourists, so it was to be expected that I wouldn't be among the faster
people on the ride! Still, I didn't get too far behind the leaders of
the group: they were still willing to wait for me at junctions. One
thing I did notice was that my left hand was really acting up. I have
had problems with my left hand since 1996, when I developed a bad case
of RSI-related tendonitis in my left hand, forearm, and elbow due to
years of bad typing practice. Gradually it has improved by fixing my
typing habits, raising my handlebars, and using flat handlebars
instead of drop bars. But before I pregnant, my left hand would start
to tingle after I'd been riding for a bit, and I'd have to take it off
the bar and shake it to bring the life back. By October it had got far
worse; the tingling started far sooner than it use to, and it took
more vigorous shaking to make it go away.

The last ride I did while pregnant that was longer than about 10
miles was in November. Simon had been asked to lead the local CTC
afternoon ride. This is a fairly slow bunch of people, and I'm
usually much faster than most of the riders. This was no longer true;
I lagged up the hills (well, what passes for hills here in flat
Cambridge!). I had definitely slowed down by this time. It was very
embarassing.

Me and my big belly, 37 weeks pregnant

I continued to ride to work, which was about 3.5 miles away. What
with commuting to work and doing various other utilitarian trips by
bike, I would put 40-50 miles on the bike per week. I continued to
ride my usual commuting bike, a fixed gear
bike. Gradually my hands got worse and worse, and the right hand
joined in the aching and tingling. I eventually figured out that I was
having pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. The dead giveaway was
that the affected fingers were the thumb, index finger, middle finger,
and half my ring finger. I got some splints to wear at night. My hands
still got worse, but perhaps this slowed down the rate of
degradation.

In January I thought that eventually I would need some gears so I
got a rigid MTB kitted out for road use, with smooth tires, mudguards,
and a rack. I used this only for about a week, and then my hands got
too bad even to use this. I swapped to using the Brompton shown at the
top of this article because it has a very upright riding position and
puts very little weight on my hands.

Around December or January I noticed feeling some kind of cramps
as I rode. They were somewhat painful, but mostly very uncomfortable,
and occurred in my lower abdomen and upper thighs. I found that
I could still ride while these were happening, and eventually they
would go away. One day I'd get them every time I rode or even did much
walking, and they'd be gone the next day. If they had continued I
would have stopped riding, but as they were intermittent I just kept
it up. I realize now that they were probably Braxton-Hix
contractions.

In February, three weeks before I was due, my hands got too
painful for me to ride even the Brompton. Both my hands had reached
the state where the fingers were tingling full time, whether or not I
rode the bike. They were also very weak, and I found it difficult to
make a fist. I also got shooting pains in my hands when I tried to
grip things, making braking impossible. I stopped riding to work,
instead having my husband drive (we worked at the same place). Oddly
enough (as carpal tunnel syndrome is often brought on by too much
typing) I could still type, as my fingers are mostly straight when
typing and it requires very little strength. Thus I could continue my
job as a computer programmer. I worked full time until the day before
I had baby Ellen.

Up until the end, I was still able to walk and climb stairs
easily. My balance wasn't affected at all. Certainly my strength and
endurance were (hence my slowing down on the bike by November) but I
was still reasonably fit. I never felt particularly tired, except for
one occasion. We went on holiday to Greece in early December, just
before I was 6 months pregnant. I was recovering from a bad cold, but
was still eager to see the sights. So we'd set off in the morning and
see some interesting archaeological site. By the afternoon I was very
tired, so we headed back to our hotel where I took a nap of 1 to 1.5
hours while Simon played with his new gadget (a PDA). Then when I woke
up we sat and read a bit, and then went out to explore a bit more and
have dinner. Simon said he actually liked this, as usually when we're
on holiday I'm all go, wanting to see as much as I can, and he thought
it was nice to have a holiday that was a bit more relaxed.

I think my posture was a bit better than many of the other
pregnant women I'd see at the antenatal classes, as I sat quite
upright while they slouched in their chairs, bellies protruding. I
also think that my belly didn't stick out quite as much as some of
theirs did because my stomach muscles were stronger. But perhaps this
was just wishful thinking! You can see for yourself from the photo.

Ellen, 6 days old

I gave birth to Ellen on 11 March 2003. She was born by
Cesarean, as she was in breech position (head up) and all the medical
people I talked to recommended a C-section. I am used to thinking of
myself as very strong and tough so it was difficult to accept that I
had undergone major abdominal surgery and had to take it easy. I went
for a short (maybe 1/2 mile?) walk the day after I got out of the
hospital, 5 days after surgery, and it completely whiped me
out. However, gradually I recovered.

The info I was given in the hospital said that I should wait 8 weeks
before cycling again, however I went for a quick 1/2 hour ride 5 weeks
after giving birth and it was absolutely fine. However I did very
little riding, as I needed to stay home to watch Ellen.

By about a month after Ellen was born the strength had returned to my
hands, and I no longer got those shooting pains when I tried to grip
things. However, some of my fingers were still quite tingly.

I didn't do much riding until nearly two months after Ellen was
born. At that time we got Ellen's cycle trailer set up for her to ride
in, by figuring out how to secure a
car safety seat in the trailer. So when Ellen and I went for a
ride, she was strapped into a car safety seat which was strapped into
the trailer, so she was safe, well, as safe as anyone can be on a bike
nowadays.

me pulling Ellen

By 5 months after Ellen was born, my hands had almost completely
recovered. I had only the tiniest bit of full-time tingling in one of
my fingers, and it was clear that that would go away too, given
time. By 6 months, the full-time tingling had completely gone away,
but the fingers of my left hand still get tingly as I ride. However,
they did this before I got prenant, so I don't think there has been
any long-term effect from my pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel
syndrome.

Pregnancy 2

Me one week before I gave birth, heading out for
a shopping trip in town.

Well, there isn't much to say about my second pregnancy. I didn't
have any carpal tunnel syndrome, and I didn't have any Braxton-Hix
contractions that I can remember. While I continued to ride to work
every day, I wasn't doing very much leisure cycling, and I pretty much
stopped that by April, when I was 5 months pregnant. I did however, do
quite a bit of shopping by bicycle, including doing the weekly food
shop by bike most weeks. I would use the child trailer (since it was
already attached to the bike anyway) and head into town and do all my
shopping at the market and the small Sainsbury's. I continued doing
this until the day I gave birth to Luke: I had been in town shopping
on Saturday monrning; on Saturday night I went into labor, and on
Sunday morning I had my new baby!